


When A Zombie Isn't

by eilidh17



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-28 04:37:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8432110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eilidh17/pseuds/eilidh17
Summary: Jack's first contact skills don't quite hit the mark.  Team on the run!





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Halloween Challenge on The Fifth Race.
> 
> Many thanks to DennyJ for the speedy beta. All mistakes are mine.

When A Zombie Isn't

 

"Trick or treat, my ass!" Jack grunted as he hit the ground hard and scrambled to hide behind a large boulder.  Daniel ended up beside him, clearly out of breath and very much out of ammunition, while arrows showered down around them, piercing through the scrubby foliage or plowing into the ground.  "Where the heck did they come from?"

Daniel shook his breath and padded down his vest pockets.  "Spare ammo," he puffed out after coming up empty.  Jack tossed him a clip as an arrow sailed down past his hand and embedded itself in a dead log.  Off in the distance, unsure of exactly which direction, he could hear Carter's P-90 rattling off round after round, and the unmistakable sound of Teal'c's zat as they tried to hold down their position near the gate. 

"Zombies?" Daniel said after he shoved the last clip home with a satisfying click.  "Really, Jack?  You couldn't have come up with something a little more tact--"

"Daniel!"

"What?"

"You said this world was safe!"

"It was until you decided to insult their traditions by infusing them with what at best could be described as a fairy tale."

"It's Halloween!"

"On Earth, yes.  Here?  Not so much. And they're not really zombies."

"Then what the heck are those things following us?"

"You heard Maltesh.  Those chosen to protect the Keres are given a virus that enhances their strength and agility."

"White skin, rotten flesh, sunken eyes. They sure look like zombies to me!"

"Side effects."

"You think?"

"Apparently."

There was a brief lull in the attack, the flights of arrows petered out until everything around them was silent.  Daniel, through gritted teeth and a glare that could bring down a System Lord, pressed a finger to his lips and ordered silence.

Jack chanced a look past the boulder and across the clearing to a treeline, to where he could just make out movement in the underbrush.  They were being circled.  The Stargate was about half a mile to their left, and their attackers were coming up on their right flank and to their front.  There was no thought of making a stand here and Jack knew it.  Whatever he had done to offend the locals, had been enough to drive them out of the village and scampering back to the gate.  Splitting the team had been done with such ease and skill that Jack hadn't even noticed the loss of Carter and Teal'c until he'd heard the sound of their weapons fire off in the distance.

"Damn it," he cursed under his breath while making a circular sign with one finger to indicate the gate.  "Ambush."

Daniel nodded quickly and then shrugged.  He was no slouch in the field, not anymore, and he just as quickly recognized that their only option was the path left open to them.  The way that lead to the gate.

Jack squeezed his radio and said softly, "Carter."

 _"Sir!"_ came Sam's swift reply.  _"I've got a visual on the gate but we're surrounded on three sides."_

"Let me guess, the path between us is clear."

_"I know.  It's an ambush."_

"Supplies?"

_"C4 and a couple of spare clips.  Dial in is in twenty minutes."_

"Yeah, well, we need to dial out before the SGC eats up our escape time."

_"Teal'c is between you and the gate."_

"What?"

_"As soon as we realized the Keres had managed to separate us, he fell behind to lay down some C4 and draw fire away from you."_

"Damn it!" Jack cursed under his breath.  "If we're not at the gate before the scheduled check-in, I want you to dial out and go through."

_"Sir!"_

"That's an order, Carter."  Jack signed off and reached for the C4 in his vest.  "Give me yours as well, Daniel."  They had four blocks and timers between them.  "We set and run at one hundred feet intervals, detonate and keep going."

"Anyone following us--"

"It's them or us, Daniel."

"Oh, definitely them."  Daniel handed Jack his stash of C4. "Their name has been bugging me since we arrived."

"The Keres?"

"Yeah.  Daughters of Nyx, spirits of the dead."  Jack figured he must have looked confused because Daniel quickly added, "From Greek mythology.  There are some who believe there might have been some connection between the Valkyries--"

"Daniel!"

"Yeah? Oh, right... yeah, we don't have time for this."

"We head to the gate and blow this charge once we've set the next one."

"One hundred and fifty feet?"

"It's going to be close."  Jack set the first charge at the base of the boulder they had been resting against and then pulled Daniel up.  No sooner were they on their feet when the Keres, alerted to their movement, let loose with another flight of arrows as they broke from the treeline.

"Go!" Jack shouted as he and Daniel surged forward towards the gate.  Ahead of them, the path dodged its way through a scrub of trees and waist high, thorn-coated bushes. Cries pierced the air as the Keres bowmen behind them paused to draw fresh arrows.  It was movement to their left that most bothered Jack.   The Keres were pressing in quickly from three sides, circling them, and they knew these woods far better than Jack did.  The path ahead of them suddenly narrowed as it passed between two rocky outcrops that looked like they might have been the result of one massive rock splitting in two.  The inner edges felt almost carved compared to the outer curves.  There was no obvious way around unless they wanted to tackle thickets of trees that plastered either side like a fortification.  They were being corralled.

Jack looked up at the top of the rocks and then across to Daniel, who was looking over his shoulder at the incoming flight of arrows.  The way through the rocks would give them momentary shelter, but the path was only wide enough for one. 

"Go!" Jack urged with a shove to Daniel's back, and then twisted around in an unconscious response to the high pitched squeal the Keres arrows made as they spiraled down towards them.  It was the unique feathers used for the fletching, or so Malkesh had explained to Jack as they toured a Keres training base earlier in the day, when Jack had showed an interest in the local armory. 

Jack turned away and sprinted forward as Daniel entered the space between the rocks, hefting his back high on his back and leaning forward as he went, in an attempt to protect the back of his shoulders and neck from being pierced.  The rocks soon loomed around him but only lasted for a few seconds as he squeezed through the opening and caught up with Daniel.

"Stop," he called out breathlessly, and pulled out the remote detonator for the first charge.  "Has to be far enough, right?"

Daniel shook his head and bent over to lean his hands on his knees.  "Feels about right.  Any other time we could do the distance at a sprint in no time."

"Here," he said handing him the detonator.  "Don't press it until I've set the next one, okay?"

"Yeah."

Jack hid the next block inside a bush and set the timer.  "Now!" he said, and took off at a sprint as Daniel pressed the detonator and took off after him.  The ground around them shook violently and then seemed to rise slightly as the ripple of a blast wave carried under their feet.  They were off again, following a less than ideal path that widened appreciatively after they cleared the rocky outcrops, but that yet again wound its way through trees and dense foliage.  Jack didn't stop to look back, only to urge Daniel to catch up.   There was no way to tell if the C4 had trapped any of the Keres in its blast.

It was when they cleared the path through the woods that the squeal of arrows in flight hit them from the left where they were most vulnerable.  So preoccupied with what was coming from behind, Jack had all but forgotten about the force coming from their left.  There was no cover, and C4 they had left primed at the outcrop was too far away from the patrol to help them.  Jack pulled the detonator from his vest and showed it to Daniel as they ran.  Maybe setting it off would serve as a distraction.  Daniel nodded quickly and pressed forward.

The second explosion was closer this time.  Far too close.  They hadn't covered nearly enough of the distance they had planned between each set.  The flight of arrows was raining around them as the blast had gone off, only this time their luck ran out.  Daniel went down with an arrow sticking out of his left thigh.  Jack caught up to him as he hit the ground, hooking his left arm under Daniel's right and pulling him straight back up.  No time to stop and pull the arrow, no time to wrap his thigh. 

There was clear movement to their left.  No arrows this time.... the Keres were closing in on them.  Jack pulled Daniel's arm around his shoulder and took off as fast as he could. 

"Carter, come in!" he snapped into his radio. 

_"Sir?"_

"Get to the gate and get home.  That's an order."

_"No can do, sir.  The gate is compromised.  The Keres have a patrol guarding the DHD."_

"Crap!  Daniel's been shot, and we've got Keres on top of us.  Get hold of Teal'c and order him back to your location."

_"Yes, sir."_

 "Daniel?"

"I can't--"

"You don't get a choice."

The Keres use long knives for close quarter fighting.  Jack pictured the weapon in his hands as he tested its weight.  They were solid and perfectly honed.  Enough weight to give them great downward thrust but not so heavy that they were useless in combat.  Truth of the matter, both Jack and Teal'c had tried bartering for a blade to take back to Earth as a cultural item.  Daniel had agreed, once Jack had given him a long silent stare that held an unspoken conversation about Daniel going along with whatever it was Jack was planning.  Procuring a blade was one thing, but coming up against it in a fight was something Jack didn't want to experience.

Daniel was a heavy weight against Jack, vibrating in pain with every skipped step. 

And then there was a familiar sound, one that rose above the shouts of the advancing Keres.  

"Teal'c!" Jack all but shouted as the blast of a staff weapon shot out from about ten feet ahead of him and in to a thicket of trees to their left.  The barrage was constant and reassuring, and provided them with enough covering fire to hold back the Keres and give Jack time to get Daniel farther away. 

"Sit," Jack said to Daniel and eased him gently to the ground.  "I need to set another charge."

Teal'c paused for a moment to look down at Daniel and then across to Jack.  "I believe your attempt at humoring the Keres has failed, O'Neill."

"Really? Ya think?"

"They appear most displeased at your attempt to imbibe their culture with your tales of fairies."

"That's fairy tales," Daniel whispered harshly, shaking as he wrapped his hands around the shaft of the arrow.  "Tales adults tell... children."

"Daniel."  Jack squatted down beside him and cast his gaze over the arrow.  "We can't pull it out here, it's too deep."

Daniel nodded and reached out so Jack could help him up.

"We must leave."

"Yeah, Teal'c.  I've set the next charge.  Just in case."

~oOo~

Sam resisted the urge to look in the direction of the second blast as the sound wave carried to her ears.  She was well hidden among a group of tall bushes, but it wouldn't take a whole lot of movement for the patrol near the gate to get a fix on her location.  And yet, when the second blast went off, she could see the patrol break their formation and head towards the sound before quickly turning back.  Not much of a distraction, but...

_"Carter."_

Startled but thankful for the earpiece she was wearing, Sam quickly hit the comm button.  "Sir!"

_"Where are you?"_

"The DHD is at my two o-clock, about thirty feet away.  There's a four-man Keres patrol guarding the gate.  The path to the gate is to my right."

_"Anyone else?"_

 "Not since you set off the C4.  There were several patrols behind me but they've moved away."

_"Probably come to see what was happening."_

"Sir, Teal'c hasn't returned."

_"He found us.  Set a block of C4 with a twenty second countdown but don't prime.  When I give the order, I want you to throw it as far as you can, out and to your left, and then take out that patrol while they're distracted.  We'll be right behind you."_

"Daniel?"

"Has a date with Fraiser."

~oOo~

The path ahead ended at a small clearing with the Stargate standing tall in the center.  Jack couldn't see Carter, but he had a fair idea of where she had concealed herself from the intel she had given him.  The four-man Keres patrol had divided themselves between the DHD and the gate, in a close formation that made them easier for Carter to take out. 

Jack looked across to Teal'c and found him staring back at the path behind them, head cocked to one side and his staff weapon half at the ready.  "Problem?"

"We are being followed."

"How far?"

"Close."

They still had one charge set and ready to go.  Jack pulled the detonator out but Teal'c shook his head.  It was as Jack had suspected - there was too much distance between them and the C4 for the patrol to turn back and investigate, and it probably hadn't taken them long to realize that the explosives were set at intervals, and meant to slow them down.  The Keres were primitive in most ways but they were quick learners, and very intelligent.  And underestimating them had been Jack's first mistake. 

Jack put the detonator away and adjusted his grip on Daniel, who was almost bent over in pain and exhaustion. 

"We must go now," Teal'c announced as he raised his staff weapon higher.  "We are within range of their bowmen."

Jack reached for his radio.  "Carter?"

_"Sir!"_

"Now."

They broke from their hiding spot near the entrance to the clearing as Carter tossed and then detonated the C4.  The patrol was caught off guard by the close proximity of the blast and stumbled to their knees, not standing much of a chance as Carter picked them off one by way on her way to the DHD.  Jack would have called her move clean and efficient, except his short-lived hurrah moment was broken by the telltale squeal of arrows inbound. 

Teal'c moved next to Daniel and took him off Jack, pausing only to lift him into a fireman's carry.  By the time they made it to the DHD, the wormhole had formed and Carter was sending the GDO code.

"Go!" Jack shouted out as arrows came down around them, peppering the ground, one nicking his left arm on its way past.  Carter was down on one knee, P90 in her shoulder, chopping up the air as round after round buzzed past Jack and Teal'c and made their way to the pursuing Keres patrols.

Jack hit a brick wall as he shot out the other end of the wormhole and right in to Teal'c.  The gate room was a mass of Marines and medics, and close behind him he heard a whoosh as Carter came through facing backwards, still firing off rounds until the iris started to close. 

"You okay?" he asked as she turned around and gave the thumbs up to the control room. 

"Just fine, sir.  I guess we can cross them off our Christmas card list."

~oOo~

"I guess in a lot of ways, what the Keres did to their soldiers is akin to taking steroids.  They give you a boost in certain areas at the sacrifice of others."  Daniel watched Jack devour his third cup of Jell-O in a matter of minutes with a look of dismay.  "Jack?"

"What?"

"Hungry?"

Jack looked at the now empty cup and put it and the spoon down slowly.  "You weren't going to eat it."

"It's green."

"And? So?"

"I like blue."

"I'm doing you a favor then."

"How's that exactly?"

"You wouldn't want Fraiser to think you weren't eating your meals."

"I'd hardly call Jell-O a meal."

"Approved for consumption by the US Air force!"

"Doesn't make it nutritious.  And, besides, you've had three cups so far."

"You're point?"

"I only had one on my tray."

Jack looked down the row of beds to where Siler and Airman Cutter were laying, their trays devoid of Jell-O.  "Right," he said around a half apologetic smile. "Sorry about that."

"Anyway!  Janet said I should be out of here tomorrow."

"Good!"

"I was hoping you could give me a ride home.  Five day weekend and then back at work Tuesday.  Light duties."

"Crutches?"

"Yes.  Which you are not going to steal.  By the way, how's the arm?"

"Eh, just a scratch.  Didn't even need stitches."

"That's something.  So, five days at your place sounds like fun."

"Wait?  What? I had plans! Big plans. Or I will have..."

"Will have what?"

"Big plans."

"Well, your plans now include why describing the armies of potential trading partners as fictional characters whose existence is a consequence of any numbers of gruesome deaths, resulting in their reanimation and the eating of brains, is not consistent with current first contact practices."

"Couldn't we just go back to that part where you asked me to take you home?"

"I didn't say whose home."

 

The End

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
